Mumbai, July 8 (IANS) Maharashtra government will table a Model Prisons and Correctional Services Bill, 2024 on the line of the Centre’s Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2023 during the ongoing monsoon session of the state legislature.

The state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde gave its approval at its meeting held on Monday.

The proposed bill will cover various aspects of prison management including security, safety, scientific and technological interventions, segregation of prisoners, special provision for women inmates, taking appropriate action against criminal activities of prisoners in the prison, grant of parole and furlough to prisoners, their education, vocational training and skill development.

It will also have provisions with regard to the reformation, rehabilitation and integration of prisoners into society.

A senior state government functionary said that the prison being a state subject, the Centre had asked to enact suitable legislation along the lines of the Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2023.

“The bill’s objective is to carry out administrative and technological reforms in prisons and also implement welfare programmes for prisoners and aftercare and rehabilitation services,” he said.

He added that the Union Home Affairs Ministry is providing necessary support and guidance to the state for efficient management of prisons in their jurisdictions.

According to the state government’s data, there are about 41,075 inmates in 60 jails against the combined capacity of 24,722 inmates in Maharashtra as of January 31, 2023.

Of the 41,075 inmates, 39,504 were men, 1,556 women, and 15 trans-genders. Of them, 7,949 were convicts, 32,917 undertrials, and 209 detainees. There were also a total of 606 foreign inmates in the jails

The jail occupancy in the state was 136.19 per cent in 2017, 148.93 per cent in 2018, 152.72 per cent in 2019, 128.70 per cent in 2020 and 148.80 in 2021.

In 2021, Maharashtra stood seventh in the country in terms of occupancy rate.

(Sanjay Jog can be contacted at sanjay.j@ians.in)

–IANS

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Gurugram, July 8 (IANS) A 28-year-old man was arrested on Monday for allegedly beating to death a 7-year-old boy and injuring a 9-year-old boy police said.

The victim was identified as Preet and his injured brother was identified as Maanu.

Police said that the victim’s grandgrandfather claimed his son had expired in 2023. After his son’s death his daughter-in-law along with his two sons and a man identified as Vineet Chaudhary was residing in the Rajendra Park area.

On Sunday, his daughter-in-law informed the complainant that Vineet brutally had beaten his children in her absence in which Preet was killed while Maanu is still admitted to a hospital.

During investigations, police appended the accused and filed a murder case against him at the Rajendra Park police station.

During interrogation, the accused said that he used to beat children in the absence of their mother. On Saturday, he had beaten the victims brutally and due to the injuries Preet died while Mannu sustained injures.

–IANS

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Bhopal, July 8 (IANS) After witnessing defeats in the four Assembly elections in the last over 20 years and failing to win even a single Lok Sabha seat in 2024, Madhya Pradesh Congress is now planning to adopt a cadre-based system in the party like in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The start of new system will begin with the formation of a new committee of the state unit Congress, which is all set for overall transportation in the next couple of weeks.

The Congress, so far in Madhya Pradesh, relied more on leader-based systems, as different senior leaders had command over their respective regions.

“Leader-based systems give room for factionalism, due to which the party has suffered for the last over 20 years. Therefore, the party wants to do away with the old system and to adopt a cadre-based system like in the BJP,” a Congress leader told IANS, the idea has been pushed during the meeting with observers appointed by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) visited the state recently.

Notably, a three-member committee led by senior Maharashtra Congress leader, Prithviraj Chavan had visited Madhya Pradesh for introspection of the party’s humiliating loss in the Lok Sabha elections recently.

During the visit, the committee held a one-to-one discussion with candidates, district heads and senior leaders and they were told that the lack of unity within the party was one of the key reasons the party witnessed humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha election.

After that, in charge of the Madhya Pradesh Congress, Bhanwar Jitendra Singh visited the state and chaired a series of meetings with several leaders. During the meeting, it was decided that the party needs to bring some changes in its system, otherwise it won’t be able to stop the BJP, which has a strong cadre up to booth level, sources said.

–IANS

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Kolkata, July 8 (IANS) West Bengal Governor on Monday said that it has sought a report from the office of the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on actions taken by the state government against the Commissioner of Kolkata Police Vineet Kumar Goyal and the Deputy Commissioner (central division) of city police Indira Mukherjee on the basis of a report sent from his office.

The development surfaced when a slugfest has already erupted in West Bengal over the Governor’s recommendation to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs recommending disciplinary actions against Goyal and Mukherjee for pursuing a police complaint filed against the Governor by a woman temporary staffer of Raj Bhavan in Kolkata a couple of months back.

The Governor’s office said that upon the authority vested on the Governor under Article 167 of the Indian Constitution, the Chief Minister has been called upon to submit a report on the matter of “action taken against the Commissioner of Police and the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, on report sent by Hon’ble Governor to the Government of India and the Hon’ble Chief Minister.”

It also said that the office of the Governor has sought from the office of the Chief Minister a report on “CBI enquiry into the violent incidences of beating of a woman in public, public flogging of a couple and operations of ‘kangaroo courts’ with no effective action by police.

BJP leaders have welcomed the complaint by the Governor on the grounds that the duty of the officers is to follow the provisions of the Constitution and not go by the directions of the ruling party.

Leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress have pointed out that the city police has already clarified that the police investigation in the matter is not against anyone but on the merits of the complaint by the Raj Bhavan staff.

–IANS

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Imphal, July 8 (IANS) Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi on Monday after visiting camps in Manipur, once again urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the violence ravaged state and announced that Congress is ready to do whatever possible to restore peace in the northeastern state.

After visiting relief camps in Jiribam and Churachandpur districts and meeting Governor Anusuiya Uikey, LoP Rahul Gandhi said that the Prime Minister should come to the state for a day or two days and listen to the affected people of Manipur.

“Even if there is no violence, the Prime Minister should come to Manipur to know its problem and issues,” LoP Rahul Gandhi told the media before leaving the state for Lucknow.

He said that the Indian government must reach out to violence-hit people and embrace them to restore peace.

“We are ready to support whatever possible to restore peace in Manipur. The state needs to get out of the suffering. Violence and hatred would not solve the crisis. I am ready to visit Manipur five times, ten times to support the people of Manipur.”

Referring to his discussion with the Governor, LoP Rahul Gandhi said that he is not happy with the situation in Manipur and ‘we expressed our displeasure to the Governor’.

“I told the Governor that I was expecting some improvement in the Manipur situation but I am quite disappointed that it is still no way near what it should be. I do not want to politicise the Manipur issue, this is not our intention at all,” the LoP Rahul Gandhi said and remarked that there was a tremendous tragedy for everybody in Manipur.

He said that he came to Manipur once again to listen to the affected people and to build their confidence.

“As in the opposition party, we try to pressurise the government to normalise the situation. The need of the hour is peace, violence hurts everyone, thousands of people are affected, many are killed, and huge numbers of property are destroyed. I have never seen such a situation anywhere in India,” LoP Rahul Gandhi said.

Noting that the state was completely divided in ethnic lines, the LoP said that he came to Manipur as the brother of the people of the state.

The LoP left for Imphal airport after his brief media briefing in the Congress Bhavan and refused to take any questions from the media.

On Monday, LoP Rahul Gandhi first visited a relief camp in Jiribam, where fresh violence occurred after the killing of 59-year-old Soibam Saratkumar Singh, a farmer, on June 6, and met the inmates of the relief camps.

State Congress president Keisham Meghachandra Singh, who accompanied LoP Rahul Gandhi, said that the inmates at the Jiribam camp told the LoP about the horrific experiences they went through.

A girl told LoP Rahul Gandhi that neither Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor Chief Minister N Biren Singh had come to visit Jiribam and she also urged the LoP to highlight their plight in the Parliament, Meghachandra told the media.

From Jiribam, the LoP came to Imphal via Silchar (Assam) and visited a relief camp in Tuibong village in Churachandpur district.

There also the LoP interacted with inmates.

Hundreds of men and women greeted LoP Rahul Gandhi both in Jiribam and Churachandpur and women wept while talking to him, the state Congress president said.

He said that LoP Rahul Gandhi’s visit firstly provided a moral boost and support to violence-hit people in Manipur and on the other hand to assess the situation on the ground by the LoP himself.

“His visit reflects the Congress’ commitment to deal with the concerns of those affected by the ethnic violence,” Meghachandra said.

Monday’s visit was the third visit of LoP Rahul Gandhi to the northeastern state after the ethnic violence broke out in the state in May last year.

The LoP visited Manipur in June 2023 and also for the start of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on January 14.

Ethnic violence between Meitei and Kuki-Zo tribal communities since May last year claimed more than 220 lives and injured over a thousand in Manipur besides destroying a large number of government and private properties and religious structures.

–IANS

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